Will Wright: Games Appeal to Your Reptile Brain

Will Wright took the stage at Austin’s South by Southwest Interactive conference to discuss, among other things, storytelling in games. Oh, also, how he broke his arm (skiing…dull, I know). To better illustrate his point of how the story in a game works, he contrasted games with movies, saying that movies are based on empathy, while games "tend to be more appealing to your reptilian brain." His point was that a player will perform actions in a game that they would never consider in real life, or would that would horrify them in a movie, using his torturing of his poor creature in Black & White as an example.

Wright went on to say that he thinks games could be designed that react to the type of story the player wants to play, adjusting lighting, music, and other story elements to create a more immersive experience. This can only mean one thing for the next version of The Sims: Smell-o-vision!